When migration becomes transmigration: New challenges to social professionals

Within the social sciences, migration has traditionally been conceived of as a unidirectional, purposeful and intentional process from one state of fixity (in the place of origin) to another (in the destination). This sedentary lens is still omnipresent in the media as well as in policymaking, as the present refugee crisis in Europe illustrates, but also the debates on integration. Based on a qualitative social work research among social workers and transmigrants in Belgium, we draw attention to a group of people whose mobile practices do not fit this static view on migration. On the contrary, their experiences are marked by an ongoing mobility that consists of a multiplicity of potential routes, which are often unstable. This transmigration is a reality for migrants from outside the EU, but is closely linked with intra-EU-migration. These transmigrants are challenging European societies, because their (intra-EU) mobility makes their access to social and political rights problematic, as these still are bound to national affiliations. These transmigrants are challenging social workers to move towards a more dynamic understanding of present-day mobility. On the micro-level, transmigration prompts the involvement of transnational social networks and resources within individual accompaniment trajectories. On the meso-level, it asks for the development of new and unexpected forms of cooperation with formal and informal actors within and across national borders. Despite the emerging ‘transnational consciousness’ among individual social workers, the structural development of transnational practices in social work is still limited by the locally directed views of local and national policies (macro level), which as yet fail to acknowledge the reality of transmigration and the need to transcend national boundaries. The paper argues we need to develop forms of transnational social work in order to guarantee the social rights of these transmigrants within Europe.status: publishe